Learning about this country

I can count the number of cultural events we have attended in the Philippines on one hand, and I have been here for 17 months. Why? Maybe because I forget to take advantage of the country I am living in. When we are on vacation we love to go to dances, museums, plays, parks, but in Manila it just feels like "home." 

A friend recommended this show, Viva La Vida Imelda, to us last year, and we finally got around to seeing it.  We almost missed it though, it ends March 16 - but thanks to the mommy network I heard it was playing. When we arrived at the gallery, Silverlens, I was a little surprised to see the sparseness, but then I saw they had wine. 

Cheers to arts and culture.

I basically had no idea what to expect. Some Australian guys next to me (who couldn't get a cab because the cabbies refuse to battle the traffic. Um, hi, you work in Manila?) told me it was led by Carlos Celdran, the famous tour guide who gives tour in Intramuros. Which has now been added to our Philippines bucket list (still got 28 months to check those off). The actors were phenomenal and interacted with the crowd. Including The Shark. He loved it.

Better manicure than mine. By a long shot.

But the best part was that I learned a lot about Philippines history. You can read more about Imelda Marcos here. And yes, Imelda was played by a man. He was wonderful.

Somewhere you probably won't go

Have you been to Tacloban? Probably not. I did and fortunately there is a nice hotel. Where they don't know how to pour beer. But they have beer, so I forgave them. I actually spent the day in Eastern Samar. Now that's the bush, folks. Got a little taste of the "real" Philippines. When I had to go to the bathroom, I asked the driver if there was a gas station we could stop at. He just laughed.

Not a bad view. Too bad it rained the whole time I was there. But that did give me a good reason to go to the spa.

Oh, and there is a tourist attraction. The Leyte Landing Memorial, commemorating the landing of General MacArthur and the American Liberation Forces in 1944. It was quite beautiful and conveniently located next to my hotel. 

And I actually learned last night that the "Rose of Tacloban" spent part of her youth here. More to come on that cultural experience.

Running February

I'm sorry, it's almost mid-March?! Where the hell did February go? Last I remember I was guiltily feeding my daughter a store bought heart cookie while admiring the hand-made Valentine our housekeeper had labored over. Mom of the year. Sorry other moms, better luck next year.

Husband's running stats fell this month. Mainly due to travel, playing in a work basketball league, and getting SCUBA certified. Dear The Shark, sorry to whoop your a$$ this month. Love, Moi. (Not that's it's a competition, because it's not.)

Week 1 (2/1-2/3)
Moi: 11 miles + Yoga
The Shark: 9.4 miles + Basketball

Week 2 (2/4-2/10)
Moi: 25.5 miles
The Shark: 22.4 miles + Basketball

Week 3 (2/11-2/17)
Moi: 25 miles + Yoga
The Shark: 13.9 miles + Surfing + Swimming + Basketball

Week 4 (2/18-2/24)
Moi: 16.2 miles + Hike 6 miles + Yoga
The Shark: 10.9 miles + Hike 6 Miles + SCUBA swims + Basketball

Week 5 (2/25-2/28)
Moi: 12.1 miles
The Shark: 10 miles

Total Running Mileage:
Moi: 89.8 miles
The Shark: 66.6 miles

Jeggings

As part of my work responsibilities, I attended the opening of the new American Eagle in Manila. I expected a ribbon cutting and some pictures, but it was a full-out high society affair. My favorite part was the food--cupcakes, mini mushroom pies, french fries, tempura vegetables. And I discovered jeggings?!? At first I thought it was a joke like "jorts" (jean shorts). But apparently these are the norm in the US. Sadly, American Eagle doesn't carry "longs" here, so no jeggings for me. 

I was still hungry afterwards.

Jeggings on the runway.

Balloon Fiesta

Last year we debated attending the balloon fiesta at Clark Airfield, but decided a 5-month old might not enjoy it so much. But our now 17-month old loves all things that fly, so we decided to brave the crowds. We bought tickets in advance at SM - P250 per person per entry - hoping we could avoid long lines. A friend recommended the Lewis Grand Hotel and an executive room was only $100. Angeles City doesn't have the best reputation - think a great location for a bachelor party - but we preferred to be closer, instead of trying to leave Manila at 4am to see the balloon launch at 6:30am. The NLEX was clear until we got stuck for an hour due to a very bad accident. 

Our room had a great view and the air seemed a lot cleaner that Manila. Granted the room smelled a little like smoke and they sold condoms in the room (no coffee...), but overall it was ok. Toto spent a while in the pool, and the food was pretty good. Not to mention the FREE beer when we arrived. Nice touch, Lewis Grand.

View from our room. Some big mountain.

We woke up at 5am on Sunday morning and drove about 10 minutes to a parking lot, then walked with the hordes about another 10 minutes to the airfield entrance. The crowds were big, but they managed to get us inside pretty quickly. We found a nice spot and set up a blanket. The balloons were colorful and Toto loved them. About as much as she loved all the pieces of trash that needed investigating. A man on a motorized flying thing flew the flag and Toto yelled "Yaya" because, well, that's Yaya's flag. Side note: she can identify the flags of the U.S., Philippines, Bahrain, and Qatar.

We stayed until about 8am then headed back to the hotel for breakfast. Next year I think we'll pack food, drinks, chairs, and maybe a tent so we can stay out a bit longer to see the other attractions.